and I naturally looked at
those whose conscience balked at paying tribute, while my sympathies
were absorbed for the future welfare of a quarter-million cattle
affected by the order. We broke into groups in taking our leave,
and the only protest that escaped any one was when the York State
representative refused the hand of the executive, saying, "Mr.
President, I have my opinion of a man who admits he is wrong and
refuses to right it." Two decades have passed since those words,
rebuking wrong in high places, were uttered, and the speaker has since
passed over to the silent majority. I should feel that these memoirs
were incomplete did I not mention the sacrifice and loss of prestige
that the utterance of these words cost, for they were the severance of
a political friendship that was never renewed.

The autocratic order removing the cattle from the Cheyenne and
Arapahoe reservation was born in iniquity and bore a harvest unequaled
in the annals of inhumanity. With the last harbor of refuge closed
against us, I hastened back and did all that was human to avert the
impending doom, every man and horse available being pressed into
service. Our one hope lay in a mild winter, and if that failed us the
affairs of the company would be closed by the merciless elements. Once
it was known that the original order had not been modified, and
in anticipation of a flood of Western cattle, the markets broke,
entailing a serious commercial loss. Every hoof of single and double
wintered beeves that had a value in the markets was shipped regardless
of price, while I besought friends in the Cherokee Strip for a refuge
for those unfit and our holding of through cattle. Fortunately the
depreciation in live stock and the heavy loss sustained the previous
winter had interfered with stocking the Outlet to its fall capacity,
and by money, prayers, and entreaty I prevailed on range owners and
secured pasturage for seventy-five thousand head. Long before the
shipping season ended I pressed every outfit belonging to the firm on
the Eagle Chief into service, and began moving out the through cattle
to their new range. Squaw winter and snow-squalls struck us on the
trail, but with a time-limit hanging over our heads, and rather than
see our cattle handled by nigger soldiers, we bore our burdens, if not
meekly, at least in a manner consistent with our occupation. I have
always deplored useless profanity, yet it was music to my ears to
hear the men arr